The use of culturally relevant stimuli in international advertising

Choosing celebrity endorsers for advertising campaigns in cosmopolitan China: Does their ethnicity matter?

“…Indeed, the effect of not considering congruence may actually be reduced effectiveness or even perceived offensiveness in the foreign culture (Leach & Liu, 1998). For example, a Toyota advertisement featuring Brad Pitt was banned in Malaysia for being an "insult to Asians" by promoting a Western ideal of male beauty (The Economist, 2012).…”

“…For McCracken (1989), celebrity-endorsed advertising success depends on whether the celebrity endorser proves meaningful within a culture's consumer values and norms (Paek, 2005). For the Chinese market, one stream of the literature suggests that it is indicated to employ local celebrities because they will prove to be more congruent with the cultural values of Chinese consumers who, being generally fairly ethnocentric, will then be able to identify more with the famous person (Cui & Yang, 2009;Frith, Cheng & Shaw, 2004;Leach & Liu, 1998). Using a local celebrity may be a way for a company to express adaptation to the local market and identification with the native culture and language.…”

Perception of Sex Appeal in Print Advertising by Young Female Anglo-Saxon and Second Generation Asian-Islamic British

“…It consists of norms that have emerged in adaptive interactions, and are transmitted across periods and generations. Furthermore, it determines, affects and describes human wants and behaviour (Leach and Lui 1998). It is generally accepted that consumption and decision making behaviour is influenced by group membership and it is argued that cultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence (Usunier 1996, De Mooij 1998, Wang 2000.…”

“…Incorporating culturally relevant stimuli into advertising efforts is becoming increasingly advocated (Leach and Lui 1998). It may contribute in creating positive perception and many companies develop dissimilar creative approaches in different countries (Duncan and Ramaprasad 1995), while it is common knowledge that others who used a standardised approach, such as Benetton, faced serious problems.…”

“…Advertising reflects and influences cultural values. Therefore, advertising appeals that depict value orientations consistent with the intended audience is likely to be more persuasive than advertisements that depict inconsistent value (Leach and Lui 1998), a fact that advertisers take into account when creating their messages (Hetsroni 2000). Advertisers use cues, such as culturally similar actors, shared cultural symbols and preferred language to produce the intended meaning, in the hope that the cues will be "decoded" by the audience (Holland andGentry 1997, Grier andBrumbaugh 1999).…”